Teachers in New York City are fearful about returning to classrooms without adequate protection for their health.
Some educators and union leaders say fear and mistrust over the partial reopening plan is pervasive…
“There’s a lot of fear and anxiety out there,” said UFT President Michael Mulgrew. “A lot of school staff passed away. And they’re like we’re not going back unless the rules are followed, and that’s what happened in March — the rules weren’t followed.”
Mulgrew said the city has a lot of work to do before any in-person classes are viable, including its promised upgrade of school HVAC ventilation systems….
Educators say they are deeply concerned about the quality of remote learning. But some say the city would be better off allocating all its time and energy over the summer to providing training and support for online teaching rather than moving full throttle ahead with reopening questions.
“I feel like we could use this time to advantage,” said Alexander-Thomas. “Arguing doesn’t get us anywhere.”
Even teachers who are comfortable in theory with returning to school buildings this fall say the devil is in the details — many of which are still being worked out.
“I would show up in my hazmat suit,” said Liza Porter, a middle school teacher at Public School 99 in Brooklyn. But she worries about logistics like how staff will safely share a bathroom.
“We literally share a bathroom with 20 other adults the size of the smallest closet in your apartment. They would have to have buckets of sanitizer for us,” she said…
City officials have acknowledged they’ll need extra staff to handle the smaller groups of students. Schools chancellor Richard Carranza said the Education Department is scouring its ranks for central office employees with teaching licenses who may be able to step in. But with hiring freezes and layoffs on the horizon following a more than billion dollar cut to the Education Department budget over fiscal years 2020 and 2021, the staffing shortages could grow worse.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Before I retired, I worked in a former closet with up to three students at a time, from every classroom, every grade, every 20-45 minutes. My successor will not only be at high risk under similar circumstances, but how to prevent her and those in similar positions from becoming dangerous vectors?
If everyone at Tweed got a teaching license and we used the “hybrid” plan, there wouldn’t be enough extra teachers to serve my school alone, let alone the 1800 others. And the state regulations, that we all face in the same direction, preclude even facing our students, let alone approaching or helping them. Anyone who tells you that the current system has advantages over an improved remote one is a good bridge-buying candidate.
thus, likely more and more solutions inside schools will be ‘students need to communicate by using computers.’ Why go into schools to do what kids have been doing at home?
The SLT at Stuyvesant recommended to the principal that the school go to full remote learning in the fall. The response was that the DOE is not allowing schools to submit proposals for fully remote learning. I’m a proponent of in-person learning, but this is a shame on a number of levels, partly because taking Stuy remote would free up a huge amount of space that other schools could use, and partly because if Stuy has to go remote suddenly in the fall, it will have to do it on a dime without proper planning.
My understanding is that notwithstanding the DOE’s guidance, NEST plans to submit a proposal for remote learning, which will be summarily rejected.
I don’t know what is going to happen in September but I am ready for total disaster with no end in sight. For context, NYC has absolutely squashed “the curve.” New deaths have almost trickled off entirely. Hospitals have plenty of capacity and new infection percentage remain around 1% even while testing has soared. In March, few in NYC thought schools would not reopen in September. In April, few imagined that the virus would be beaten back so soundly by July. By every standard health experts held up at the start of this pandemic, NYC is doing extraordinarily well. But the level of fear about school-reopening appears to remain extremely high among teachers, and even among many parents. Will teachers become less afraid when a new spike of hospitalizations happens in November? When flu season is in full swing? Next spring? I think not. It seems increasingly likely that we are headed for indefinite all-remote school here until a successful vaccine emerges and is distributed universally, meaning possibly for another full school year, possibly for several more.
I can’t really wrap my head around how big a disaster that is for this city. It is Armageddon for single parents and for families that need two incomes, especially given the tiny spaces families live in. Mental health, forget about it. Substance abuse, forget about it. (For me, 7:30 pm became 5 pm back in March. Then 4 pm. Now I struggle to make it past 3 pm.) Domestic abuse, I can’t bear to think about that.
I don’t know what I’m trying to say specifically. I think this is so bad that it seems beside the point to even discuss solutions, like brainstorming survival ideas in a sealed room with 30 seconds of oxygen left. This really just seems like “save yourself and your family, by any means necessary” time.
FLERP, your voice on this has been consistent. I value it especially because it reflects my innermost conviction. Personally, I often don’t have access to my own instinctive grasp of reality until it’s almost time to make a decision. I’m old enough to know that: I drag my feet and procrastinate until I can feel it, & I’m aware I may do a last-minute 180. Staying safe inside can generate rosy projections that evaporate the moment I step out to replenish essentials. I’m on high alert until the moment I’ve safely doffed PPE & finished wiping everything down. Simply can’t imagine extending such periods to hours inside with others from outside my household, as school staff is being exhorted to do even in regions with rising community spread.
Yes it’s a disaster, whichever angle you view it from. I agree with your bottom line: “save yourself and your family, by any means necessary.”
If you are not familiar with Gerry Brooks….he is funny. In this video he is on a call with Betsy.
His suggestions for classroom jobs in the fall.